Biography
of Marcus Aemilius Chrysanthus
- Marcus Aemilius Chrysanthus is attested as a member of a Mithraic community (syndexios).
- Attested in the 2nd – 3rd century.
- Attested in Roma, Latium, Italia in 171 – 230 (TNMM 785).
- Attested in Roma, Latium, Italia in 2nd – 3rd century (TNMM 479 and TNMM 463).
TNMP 95
The freedman Marcus Aemilius Chrysanthus is known from three inscriptions engraved on small marble altars unearthed in the 16th century in Rome, not far from Santa Maria in Monticelli. In these three dedications, he is described as magister of the first year, a title that seems to designate him as the trainer of new entrants to the Mithraic community (such as the slaves Fructus and his son Myro?), whose instruction he would have been responsible for for a year, with the help of assistants, one of whom bears the same praenomen and the same gentilice as he.
—Les cultes de Mithra dans l'Empire Romain (2021)
References
- Alfred Shenington Geden. Altar of Fructus and Myro in EDCS.
- Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss / Slaby. Altar from Rome by Mnester and Philetus in EDCS.
Attestations
Altar from Rome by Mnester and Philetus
TNMM 785
This marble altar was found ’in the street called di Branco’, behind the palace of the Cardinal of Bologna, in Rome.
Altar of Aemilius Chrysanthus to the Invincible Sol
TNMM 479
Aemilius Chrysanthus shares the expenses of this monument with a decurio named Limbricius Polides.
Altar of Fructus and Myro
TNMM 463
This marble monument was dedicated in Rome by the slave Fructus and his son Myro.
